Two-time silver medalist of the first stage of the Cup of the Strongest Yana Zaikina from Volgograd shared her emotions from the tournament:
"I'm not very happy with this competition; not everything went well. I'll work on that so I can do well at the next competition. We worked on our artistic skills and tried to work more on our elements to get a really high DB."
The gymnast also spoke about communication with Belarusian athletes:
"We became friends with them in Minsk at the Crystal Rose, and at the last competition in Tashkent, we met Ksyusha and another Ksyusha there. They're very kind, very beautiful, and talented."
And she thanked everyone who helped her with the preparation:
"I want to say a huge thank you to Evgeniya Mikhailovna for working with us every day and simply always supporting us. Her support really helps me, and it makes my performance easier. Olga Dmitrievna, for working with us every day, giving us feedback, like what didn't count, what did, and helped us perform well and get a high score. And Ekaterina Medorovna, for working with us on the choreography every day, practicing our elements. And, of course, a huge thank you to Alina Maratovna for calling us on the first day and motivating us, which really helped me."
Yana Zaikina’s coaches are Evgeniya Eliseeva and Olga Minigalina. The choreographer is Ekaterina Belova.